The Ransom: A Nicole Graves Mystery

Nancy Boyarsky

Sep 2019 · Light Messages Publishing

About this ebook

As a newly minted private investigator, Nicole Graves expects to take on legal cases for corporate clients. But when her client’s son, Brad Rexton, is killed trying to protect his wife, Ashley, from a home invasion-turned-kidnapping, the firm is hired to investigate. Nicole soon discovers that Ashley is not the person she claims to be, but her real identity remains a mystery.

Meanwhile, a long-delayed and undesired inheritance is finally deposited into Nicole’s bank account. Within a few days, someone dear to Nicole is kidnapped in the same manner as Ashley. The perpetrators demand Nicole’s full inheritance as ransom. She’s willing to hand the money over but finds it’s not so easy. The kidnappers have an uncanny ability to track her every move, and they suspect a trap. When their most terrifying threat is delivered to her door, Nicole is faced with a terrible choice: Should she count on the police or risk going it alone?

“Nicole Graves is a charming and straight-shooting heroine” – Foreword Reviews

“Boyarsky’s weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine’s adventures both nightmarish and dreamy.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Nicole Graves is the best fictional sleuth to come down the pike since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone.” – Laura Levine, author of the popular Jaine Austen Mysteriesbr>
The Nicole Graves Mysteries

1. The Swap
2. The Bequest
3. Liar Liar
4. The Ransom

All Nicole Graves Mysteries can be read as stand-alone novels.

About the author

Nancy Boyarsky is the bestselling author of the award-winning Nicole Graves Mysteries. Reviews compared The Swap to the mysteries of Mary Higgins Clark and praised Nancy for contributing to the "women-driven mystery field with panache " (Foreword Reviews) as well as for their "hold-onto-the-bar roller coaster " plots (RT Book Reviews). Kirkus had special praise for The Bequest, concluding, "Boyarsky's weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine's adventures both nightmarish and dreamy." In Liar Liar, Foreword Reviews falls once more for the "tough and likable protagonist Nicole Graves " and Midwest Book Review praises the "exquisite tension" throughout the story. Before turning to mysteries, Nancy coauthored Backroom Politics, a New York Times notable book, with her husband, Bill Boyarsky. She has written several textbooks on the justice system as well as articles for publications including the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and McCall's. She also contributed to political anthologies, including In the Running, about women's political campaigns. In addition to her writing career, she was communications director for political affairs for ARCO. Her debut novel The Swap-book one of the Nicole Graves Mysteries-won the prestigious Eric Hoffer award for Best Micro Press Book of the Year. In response to the controversial and incendiary themes explored in Liar Liar, Nancy Boyarsky was invited to present at the American Library Association Annual Conference in 2018 on "Women-Driven Mysteries in a Post #MeToo World." In her latest novel, "Boyarsky's imagination serves up a court case that plays with expectations during an era where we push to believe women, resulting in some real bad baddies whom it feels good to root against." (Foreword Reviews). Liar, Liar is the third Nicole Graves novel, following The Swap and The Bequest, each of which can be read as a stand alone. Readers are invited to connect with Nancy through her website at nancyboyarsky.com.